B.C. Lions' quarterback Jonathon Jennings passes against the Montreal Alouettes during the second half of a CFL football game in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday September 9, 2016.DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Of all the quarterbacks who have played with the B.C. Lions since their inception in 1954, only three have thrown for 5,000 yards in a single season: Doug Flutie, the six-time most outstanding player, Dave Dickenson, a Canadian Football Hall of Famer, and Casey Printers, the one-year wonder.

Jonathon Jennings needs just 81 yards in Saturday’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders to join the exclusive 5,000 club as a Lion. It is suggested he should go for it on the first play of the game against the Riders, a team which invited Jennings to their mini-camp in Florida last year but never called him back.

“It could be nice to get it on the first play. That would be cool,” Jennings said. “If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

His ability to make tough throws, throws on the move and, especially, deep throws, have placed him in position to reach 5,000 — probably ahead of the pace most observers thought possible.

Breakout third-year player Bryan Burnham, one of the dynamic receivers partly responsible for Jennings’ success, set some ambitious goals in the off-season, which he jotted down in a notebook.

Burnham said he aimed for 1,500 receiving yards and a goal of finishing among the top five receivers in the CFL. That’s called shooting for the moon, considering that Burnham was only the sixth-best receiver on the Lions last season, with 423 yards. Yet, the classic over-achiever goes into Game No. 18 with 1,296 receiving yards as the circuit’s fourth-leading pass catcher.

“(Unlike Burnham) I never wrote anything down,” Jennings explained. “Personally, I set the goal, in my mind, to become the best quarterback in the league, to have the best numbers, to win the championship. I always set my goals high. Bo (Calgary’s Levi Mitchell) and Mike (Edmonton’s Reilly) have obviously had great years (each QB has thrown for more than 5,000 yards). But there’s nothing wrong about setting goals super-high and trying to reach them.”

Through a style that gives life to an offensive system, by force of personality or simply by coming along at the right time, Flutie, Dickenson, Printers — and now Jennings — have achieved brilliance in different ways.

Too small, too short, too something, Flutie turned the computer-printout prejudices of the NFL upside down with eight seasons of sustained excellence in the CFL, throwing for a pro record 6,619 yards on 466 completions in his second season in B.C. (1991).

In 2003, the first season for Wally Buono and Super Dave in British Columbia, Dickenson’s 36 touchdown passes and 5,496 yards became the second-highest single season marks in Lions’ history, behind Flutie. That year, the Lions not only had a stable offensive line, but a starry receiving corps of Geroy Simon, Jason Clermont, Chris Brazzell, Ryan Thelwell and Frank Cutolo — leaving Dickenson with options all around.

A year later, after Dickenson went down with injury, Printers flashed across the sky like a comet, throwing for 5,088 yards and 35 touchdowns and was named the league’s most outstanding player of 2004.

“I’ve seen them all on YouTube,” Jennings said. “It’s always good taking notes on guys who have been successful.”

Jennings is frequently compared to Printers, but only in the sense that their arrival as quarterbacks of the future came sooner than expected. Printers was 23 in his MOP season; Jennings is 24.

“The only thing in common is having success at that age,” says Travis Lulay, who was a teammate of Printers in 2009-2010. “Casey told me, speaking about his big year, that he used his legs first. He could make things happen on the edge. Jon is a pocket-passer first. There are times when he could use his legs more, because he does have a weapon there.

“But there are similarities in another respect,” Lulay added. “Playing on a good team can give a young quarterback confidence. We have an explosive receiving corps, good production at the tailback position (Jeremiah Johnson, Anthony Allen) and, knock on wood, good continuity up front (offensive line). It’s as good as any time I’ve ever been here.”

Even the best quarterback prospects in the Mel Kiper-ish world can’t perform in isolation. As a team leader, Jennings’ generosity of spirit won’t allow him to talk about personal accomplishments without recognizing his bodyguards.

“He’s a fast, elusive guy,” said left tackle Jovan Olafioye. “He isn’t easy to sack. He does make us look good sometimes. We ain’t gonna block the guy on every play. But he stays in the pocket more than on some teams. We have to block for three seconds, sometimes four, for him to get that pass off. That tells how good we are.”

As the gatekeeper for all four past and pending 5,000-yard Lions quarterbacks (he had Flutie in Calgary), Buono said the commonality was that all of them got the ball into the hands of the playmakers and let them perform. And he says there is a distinguishing characteristic of Jennings that often goes unrecognized: A combination of fire and ice, not necessarily in that order.

“Jonathan’s competitive nature is sometimes overlooked,” Buono suggested. “It’s more evident than you think. And there’s his composure. You don’t see the ups and downs in a game, that emotional outburst, those body gestures. I can’t remember him throwing an interception and putting on such a sideshow.”

That’s personality. The rest is God-given ability. And opportunity. After that comes experience.

With more of it, Jennings makes Buono realize his best is yet to come.

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